Climbing Tal's Hill 3 hours ago
Houston Astros 2020 Year in Review: Zack Greinke hot, cold
Zack Greinke was hot and cold for the Houston Astros during the 2020 season. It seems so long ago, but there was a period of time during the 2020 season when Zack Greinke looked like the unquestioned ace of the Houston Astros rotation. Justin Verlander was injured, Lance McCullers wasn’t quite himself and Framber Valdez […] Houston Astros 2020 Year in Review: Zack Greinke hot, cold - Climbing Tals Hill - Climbing Tals Hill - A Houston Astros Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More
The Crawfish Boxes Oct 27, 2020
5 starters the Astros could make a bet on
Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/ The Astros will face a busy offseason in which adding pieces to their pitching puzzle will be one of their tasks. No matter what, the Astros need to reset their pitching staff before Opening Day and that means adding new pitchers. They won’t have ace Justin Verlander in 2021 and even though the team has pieces such as Zack Greinke, Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, José Urquidy, and Cristian Javier, there are lots of questions to ask. I know the kind of busy offseason GM James Click will have in order to put together the puzzle of...
The Crawfish Boxes Oct 26, 2020
Brooks Raley: Another Brent Strom Miracle
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports Turning pitching water into wine, yet again We love Brent Strom here at TCB. He should be the first assistant coach to go to the baseball Hall of Fame, so remarkable are his accomplishments. Just a quick refresher. Dallas Keuchel, two years before Strom (BS) 5.20 ERA. Dallas Keuchel, two years after Strom (AS) 2.69 ERA. Cy Young winner. Will Harris, BS, 4,26 ERA. AS, 2.51 ERA. Collin McHugh, BS, 8.94 ERA. AS, 3.63 ERA. Charlie Morton, BS, 4.54 ERA. AS, 3.36 ERA. Gerrit Cole, BS, 3.50 ERA, AS, 2.68 ERA. These are just a few. Even Justin Verlander had two...
The Crawfish Boxes Oct 20, 2020
Silver linings in the Astros 2020 season
Photo by Bob Levey/ The future is brighter than we might have thought What a year! No, I’m not talking about impeachment, pandemic, “mostly peaceful protests,” election craziness. I’m talking about the Astros in the midst of all this. The awful Brandon Taubman incident. The de-moralizing cheating scandal and the firing of the top brass of the Stros. The postponed and shortened COVID season. The early injuries to key players: Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, ROY Yordan Alvarez, closer Roberto Osuna and many others. This was supposed to be the last year of the Astros’...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 29, 2020
Heading into the postseason, here’s your surprises and disappointments of the 2020 Astros
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Now the regular season is over, we can make a balance of the Houston campaign. The 2020 regular season was nothing as planned for the Astros. Injuries altered their campaign and led them to a negative-record season, but was —luckily— enough to advance to their fourth postseason in a row. Those injuries opened the door for Houston to have a bunch of surprises in terms of low-profile players and disappointments from men you’d expect to step up in the middle of a difficult year. Basically, the team went through the season without stars Justin Verlander,...
